No Sacred Cows

As debate over the future direction of Labour in government gathers pace, this week we explore the growing disconnect between politics and economics, the collapse of the old social contract, and what a new political economy might look like.

From devolution and housing to regulation, growth and the role of the state, this is a conversation about far more than individual policies. It’s about what kind of country Britain wants to become, who the economy should work for, and how progressives can respond to an era of stagnant living standards and rising anti-system politics.

Fresh from his stint leading the Labour Growth Group Mark McVitie talks about the new economic settlement for Britain and we reflect on what these ideas mean for Labour’s next chapter and whether this long-overdue debate can finally produce the political strategy that the government has been missing.
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Can Britain achieve net zero without sacrificing energy security, economic growth and public support? As energy prices remain stubbornly high and global instability continues to expose vulnerabilities in energy markets, the debate is no longer just about climate change. It is about jobs, national resilience, living standards and Britain's place in a rapidly changing world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we ask whether Westminster is still fighting yesterday’s battles while the world moves on. Public First’s Jeegar Kakkad joins us to examine why defence and national security remain peripheral to political debate, despite growing global instability, as well as consider what a serious programme of national resilience might look like, and whether a new politics of nation building could offer an answer to both international insecurity and domestic stagnation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Britain’s political system is capable of responding to the economic, technological and cultural challenges reshaping not just the country, but the world? That’s the question Stella Creasy and Damian Hinds have been exploring together - and the one they join Ed, Anna, Mark and Ben to examine on this week’s episode of the pod - returning for our second season, at a huge time for Britain’s mainstream politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political analyst, writer and former government adviser Sam Freedman steps into the cow shed this week to look at how Labour in the UK needs to continue to realise that competence and good intentions will be enough to change the state. He lays out how some criticisms from the political right about state inefficiency are valid and need engaging with and how the government must move on from naivety towards a real plan on reshaping the state, if it wants to deliver. Sam talks about decentralisation away from Westminster as a potential remedy the government should pick up - as well as boosting the Prime Minister’s office and creating stronger ministerial offices. We also hear from Sam, and reader Katy, about our last episode on progressive education, which got the comments section livened up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.